Friday 29 July 2016

Kejri gets bail; AAP, SAD avert clash

Relief for Sanjay Singh as well, Khetan fails to appear; Majithia supporters block court entrance; next hearing on Oct 15

From page 01 AMRITSAR: It took Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal just 15 minutes to get bail in the defamation case filed by Punjab revenue minister Bikram Singh Majithia but the city was prisoner to their invading supporters for hours on Friday.
Commandeered by senior leaders and a couple of ministers, the Akali crowd packed the main entrance to the court so tightly that even Majithia struggled to get in and Kejriwal had to be ushered through the backdoor. Police couldn’t hold the rampaging Akalis even a few metres, when they had no trouble holding the AAP workers a kilometre from the judicial complex, at Circuit House, where Kejriwal had made the night halt.
Both Akalis and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers occupied streets outside the court complex. As soon as Kejriwal secured bail, slogans rang out there against Majithia and drug menace. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) camp, pitched there since 8.30am, responded with slogans accusing Kejriwal of defaming PunjabisIt was a placard war. “Punjab di Jawani nu badnam karoge taan rokange, bani da niradar karoge te thokange (If you defame Punjab’s youth, we’ll stop you, if you disrespect Sikh scripture, we’ll batter you),” threatened Akali signs. The AAP banners played up Kejriwal’s statement: “Mein ik vaar nahi hazaar vaar kahanga, Majithia chitte da taskar hai (I’ll say it not once but a thousand times, Majithia is a drug smuggler).”
Police let the crowd build up outside the court, not expecting it to get so big. With an AkaliAAP clash first thing to avoid, police commissioner Amar Singh Chahal led Kejriwal into the court under his protection. After 15 minutes, the AAP leader came out and was whisked away amid tight security. “The court has granted bail to Kejriwal and (party colleague) Sanjay Singh and set the next hearing for October 15,” said senior lawyer and AAP leader HS Phoolka. “(Co-accused) Ashish Khetan did not appear today but he will be here at next hearing.”
Majithia has sued the three AAP leaders for accusing him of running Punjab’s drug trade. State elections are due next year, and the AAP is a major challenger to the ruling AkaliBJP combine.

Cong should name CM face: Amarinder


CHANDIGARH: Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh has asked his party highcommand to declare the chief ministerial candidate before the 2017 state elections for tactical advantage.
Terming Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal an outsider to Punjab and its current ruling combine unlikely to win again, Amarinder told the media on Friday here that the Congress needed to use this edge in the polls. Giving example of Uttar Pradesh (another state heading for early-2017 polls), where Sheila Dikshit is party’s CM candidate, he said even regional parties had announced their CM faces. “It is not mandatory in our party,” said Amarinder, “but has become necessary to let people know whom they are voting.”Ruling out possibility of the AAP’s winning Punjab, Amarinder said the state had enough able leaders within.

Arrest me or I will arrest you, dares Kejri; Majithia unfazed

SAD Minister: Matter of ‘aaj bail kal jail’ for AAP CM, aides
GS Paul
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, July 29

Aam Aadmi Party convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal today dared Punjab Revenue Minister Bikram Majithia to arrest him within six months (during the SAD-BJP’s remaining tenure) or else he would have him (Majithia) arrested after that. 
“It's a matter of ‘aaj bail kal jail’ for this arrogant leader (Kejriwal). He cannot escape the law,” the Minister hit back. “I am glad the Delhi CM has been dragged to court for maligning my name,” he said amid cheering by supporters.
 Thronged by a huge crowd, Kejriwal and his party colleague Sanjay Singh appeared in a local court and procured bail on a bond of Rs 40,000 each. The defamation case will now come up for hearing on October 15, said AAP leader and Supreme Court lawyer HS Phoolka. He said Ashish Khetan had already been exempted from personal appearance.
It turned out to be a parallel show of strength between the Revenue Minister and the AAP convener. Policemen in large numbers were deployed en route the district courts. Police Commissioner Amar Singh Chahal himself supervised the security arrangements.
About 15,000 - 20,000 AAP volunteers had gathered near the Circuit House by the time Kejriwal, who was accompanied by Bhagwant Mann, Sangrur MP, and Punjab convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur, arrived there.
The police reportedly stopped AAP volunteers barely a kilometre from the court even as Akali Dal workers gathered there in large numbers.
The AAP volunteers were seen carrying placards, which read: “Main ek var nahin hazaar var kahanga, Bikram Majithia chitte da taskar hai (I will say not once, but a thousand times that Majithia smuggles drugs).” 
  Solely focusing on the drug menace, Kejriwal claimed that hoardings across Punjab describing Majithia as a “druglord” clearly indicated the people had made up their mind to oust the Akalis. “Not just me, Ashish Khetan and Sanjay Singh, but lakhs of Punjabis call Majithia a drug trafficker. I ask Majithia, how many defamation cases will he file?” he thundered.
He said that when the Badal government could pressurise him, Delhi Chief Minister, by implicating him in a false case, he could well understand the harassment faced by the common man (aam aadmi) in Punjab.

Judging defamation

Democratic dissent needs to be protectedTHE Supreme Court of India finds itself having to confront the consequences of its own ruling on defamation. In May earlier this year the apex court had upheld the existing defamation law as a necessary instrument to protect an individual’s reputation against scurrilous attacks. “Reputation of one cannot be allowed to be crucified at the altar of the other's right to free speech,” the court had formulated. Reputation of a person was deemed to be central to the right to life, guaranteed under Article 21 in the Constitution. It was a balancing act, delicately performed. 
The ideal and desirable balance, however, is never easily arrived at. This week the court found itself having to take cognizance of the misuse of the defamation law in Tamil Nadu, where an opposition leader, Vijayakanth, had got slapped with a notice and served with a non-bailable warrant for daring to criticise the Jayalalithaa government. The court was constrained to declare that the “defamation law cannot be used as a political weapon.” 
But that precisely has been happening. On Friday the Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, was in Amritsar having to put in an appearance in a court, seeking bail in a case brought against him by a Punjab Cabinet minister, Bikram Singh Majithia. The Delhi Chief Minister is not without legal and financial resources to defend himself; but other democratic groups and individuals may not be all that well endowed. Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code, as they stand, bestow an unfair advantage on the rich and the powerful who can threaten to shut down inconvenient criticism through the mechanism of ruinous litigation. In Punjab and Haryana political leaders regularly resort to sending ‘legal notices’ to newspapers. The defamation law has become an instrument of intimidation and coercion. While big news organisations do have the financial resources to defend themselves against such tactics, the voice of the district and local level newspapers often gets throttled. The democratic expectation can only be that while disposing of the Jayalalithaa-Vijayakanth matter, the apex court will restore the balance in favour of democratic dissent and criticism. 

Why ad hoc GOC-in-C posting: Amarinder


Capt Amarinder Singh
Chandigarh, July 29
Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday said there cannot be a “worst example of indecisiveness” of the Modi government than the appointment of an ad hoc Commander to the crucial Western Command of the Army.
Reacting to the reports about the Army having appointed an “officiating” General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Command, Amarinder said it was unprecedented and probably for the first time in history.
“It only reflects the lack of decision making at the highest level”, he said, while wondering as why was not a regular appointment made when everybody knew that the incumbent Commander was going to retire on July 31.
This, he said, was because of the excessive and over centralisation of all the powers in the PMO.
The former Chief Minister, who has authored several military history books, maintained that the Army appointments are based on the seniority, unless somebody’s record is really too bad. So there should not have been any delay or difficulty in choosing a new Commander.
“It only betrays, either lack of confidence or utmost indecisiveness in the government”, Amarinder said, while wondering what the Defence Minister (Manohar Parrikar) was doing. — PTI

363 farmer suicides this year, 56 in Punjab: Centre

New Delhi, July 29
About 363 farmers across the country have committed suicide so far this year due to agrarian reasons, including 56 in Punjab, Parliament was informed today.
According to the data placed by Minister of State for Agriculture Parshottam Rupala in the Rajya Sabha, a maximum of 241 farmer suicides were reported from Karnataka, followed by Maharashtra (57).
The minister said this data had been furnished by the states, not by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The latter has published such data only till 2014.
In 2015, the number of such cases was 107 in Karnataka, 1,841 in Maharashtra and 46 in Punjab, while the figure for the country was 2,548.
Replying to a query on the steps taken by the Centre to rehabilitate families of the farmers who committed suicide, the minister said, “The government’s strategy is to focus on the farmers’ welfare by making farming viable.” — PTI

Cong should name CM face before poll: Capt

Rajmeet Singh
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 29

The party should declare the CM candidate well before the Assembly polls, PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh said here today.
In a freewheeling interaction with the media, he said he was hopeful that the announcement will be made as had been done in the case of Uttar Pradesh.
The former CM reasoned that it was important to clear the air on the CM -designate as the people were keen to know their candidate and would vote accordingly.
The MP from Amritsar said the SAD-BJP alliance had already done so and the AAP is expected to follow in the coming days. This should be done to counter regional parties, he reasoned.
On Kejriwal as the AAP CM candidate, he said the issue of the ‘son of the soil’ will crop as there was no dearth of Chief Ministerial candidates in Punjab. “Kejriwal has other minus points like hailing from Haryana. All Punjab disputes are with Haryana and where will he (Kejriwal) stand. His stance on SYL is an example”, he added.
On distribution of tickets, he admitted that in 2012 elections out of 39 tickets and seven for youth candidates that were allotted on recommendation of senior leaders, the party won only six seats.
“Even if some senior or sitting MLAs are found wanting, we will change them. This time I am confidant the winninability will be the sole criteria,” he affirmed.
Sounding confidant after his ongoing Halke Vich Captain and the constituency-wise zonal meetings, he said an ever increasing number of people were pouring in to listen and register their governance related grievances.
On SYL Canal
Amarinder also clarified that the Congress government will not repeal the Section 5 of the Termination of River Water Agreements Act, which guarantees the water supply to states of Rajasthan and Haryana. He ridiculed Badal for claiming to have repealed that section saying it was Mr Badal who had started the process of construction of the SYL by acquiring land and now he was trying to claim credit for something which he is not capable of doing.
On Naresh Yadav’s arrest
Taking a principled stand on registration of cases against the AAP leaders, especially the arrest of Naresh Yadav, on the issue of sacrilege of Quran in Malerkotla, the PCC chief demanded a thorough investigation to ascertain the truth. It was wrong to pronounce someone guilty before the investigations.

It’s all clear for 18 ex-servicemen on Day 3

Of 334 candidates, 7 flunk dope test & 174 fail physical during police recruitment drive

Candidates take part in a physical test during a police recruitment drive at Sector 78 in Mohali on Friday. Tribune photo: Vicky Gharu
Ishrat S Banwait
Mohali, July 29

Ex-servicemen ruled the day of the police recruitment drive in Mohali. With all 18 candidates passing the dope and physical tests, the indomitable Army spirit was on display.
The physical test included a run of 1,400 metres in 12 minutes and 50 sit-ups.
According to the Superintendent of Police, Harbir Singh Atwal, three per cent of the posts had been reserved for the ex-Army men. While the ex-servicemen said their Army training made test easy, the rest of the candidates said their performance was inspirational.
In three days, only one ex-Army man has flunked the dope test.
While 334 candidates appeared on the third day of the drive, seven failed the dope test and 174 flunked the physical test. Atwal said, “Yesterday, three ex-Army men had failed to clear the physical test, that too, because they did not have the minimum required height of 5’7.” He added that most of the ex-Army men 1,400-meter run in seven minutes.

Brar faces criticism from Cantonment ticket aspirants

Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, July 29

Allotting a ticket for the Jalandhar Cantonment constituency will be a tedious task for the Punjab Congress as over 12 Congress leaders are in a race to become the 
candidate from the constituency in the ensuing elections. 
Some of the ticket aspirants, Tajinder Bittu, a former chairman of Improvement Trust, and Sonu Dhessi, secretary, PPCC, were not invited to the rally hence they preferred to stay away from the rally.
For today’s rally most of the hoardings were put up by former MLA Jagbir Brar. He is in the forefront for the elections but most of the leaders in the race for ticket alleged that he took this rally as his personal show rather than a joint platform.
Most of the leaders alleged that the venue of the rally was not Cantonment but Kartarpur as 
he feared that the leadership here may launch protest against his (Brar) candidature.
The leaders in the race are Jagbir Brar, former MLA Adampur, Kanwanjit Singh Lally, former Improvement Trust chairman, Tajinder Bittu, PPCC secretary, Sonu Dhessi, Daljit Singh Ahluwalia, also former Improvement Trust chairman. Apart from Bittu and Dhessi, other leaders attended the rally.
Interestingly, no senior leader, including Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary, Santosh Chaudhary, Avtar Henry and Kuljit Nagra, in their address exclusively sought support for any of the leaders in race. This shows that party was aware about the present situation in the constituency and no senior leader has projected any one leader.
Kaku Ahluwalia, son of senior leader Daljit Singh Ahluwalia, also the president of Industry and Trade Cell, PPCC, said his father wanted to contest from the Cantonment area as they have a huge base here and seen the past three Assembly election in the area very closely. 
When asked why only Brar had installed his hoardings in the rally, he replied, “Actually, this function was organised out of the constituency due to which no other leader preferred to put their hoardings. I think by keeping the venue out of the Cantonment area, Brar tried to make this rally his personal show which is not right.” 
Jeet Ram Gachi, a senior leader from the Cantonment area said the venue of the rally should have been in Cantonment only. He alleged no councillor of the area, namely Shashi Bhardwaj, Rajinder Joshi, Bharat Atwal and Rajinder Kuki, was allowed to speak on the stage which sent a wrong signal among the party workers of the area. “We will soon meet the PPCC chief to apprise him about the ground reality of the Cantonment constituency so that only the winnable candidate is given the ticket,” he said.
When asked why Tajinder Bittu and Sonu Dhessi were not invited to the rally, Jagbir said: "When the schedule of the rallies was announced in Chandigarh under the leadership of PPCC chief Captain Amarinder Singh, all these leaders were present there. They were informed about the upcoming rallies and now they are raising issues."

Now, Akali Dal puts up ‘AAP sharam karo’ posters

All-out poster war in city as SAD activists tear off posters calling Majithia a ‘drug peddler’
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, July 29

A poster war has ensued between the local leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over the appearance of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a defamation case in Amritsar today, filed by Punjab Revenue Minister Bikram Majithia.
After the AAP leaders had put up posters against Majithia yesterday which were removed and burnt, it was the turn of the SAD leaders who got made hoardings of huge sizes and put them across the city overnight. The messages in posters of both the parties have been very loud.
While the AAP posters had pictures of national convener Kejriwal saying, “I will say it not once but 1000 times that Bikram Singh Majithia is a drug peddler”, the ones put up by the SAD read, “Aam Aadmi Party sharam karo (Be ashamed Aam Aadmi Party).” Besides, the poster takes potshot against Kejriwal for harming the peace and communal harmony of Punjab. It also has an attacking message against Delhi MLA Naresh Yadav, who has been arrested in a sacrilege incident. It also attacks MP Bhagwant Mann on alcoholism charges.
It concludes with a message in Punjabi with the meaning, “We are with Bikram Majithia, who has always worked for the welfare of Punjab and Punjabi youth”. The pictures of party activists have been put up beneath the SAD poster.
The YAD workers led by activist Charanjit Singh Minta carried out another protest wherein a message read, “Kejriwal is an enemy of Punjab waters.”

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